Aftermath

“There’s no fixing this.”

My grandmother waves at the tv.

Polar bears are stranded on a shrinking ice floe.

I shut my eyes.

 

I meet with a student.

She’s dealing with an anxiety disorder.

Her brown eyes pool with tears.

“Sometimes it can seem all too much, you know?”

I tell her that just showing up every day is an act of courage.

 

News coverage of Hurricane Fiona floods the screen.

Huge tracts of PEI shoreline have been devoured by the sea.

Scant sand is littered with spewed remains.

Islanders survey the wreckage with horror and wobbly resolve.

 

A weary fisherman shakes his head.

“There’s no fixing this. It’s just too much.”

Author: Virginia Boudreau

Virginia Boudreau is a retired teacher who makes her home on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. When not at her keyboard, she’ll usually be found in her garden or at the shore. Her poetry and prose have been published in a wide variety of international literary venues including Palette Poetry, Grain, Westerly, Sylvia Magazine, The Last Stanza and League of Canadian Poets. Environmental poetry has appeared in: Revolute, Claw and Blossom, UnderStorey, House of Zolo Press, and Little Somethings.

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